A big concert was being held at the local arena. I asked my husband to save two VIP tickets for me. He readily agreed, but later handed me two nosebleed seats. I asked him, "No VIP tickets this time?" Without even looking up, he replied, "I gave them to a friend. She's pregnant and needs special care." Curious, I asked, "Which friend of yours is pregnant? Why haven't I heard of her?" My husband immediately got defensive: "Chloe, are you seriously jealous of a pregnant woman?" 1 If my coworker hadn't asked me about the tickets, I wouldn't have even known a concert was coming to our town. My husband, Arthur, owns a liquor store. Whenever the liquor brand he sells sponsors a concert, the company always gives its distributors some tickets for networking and building relationships. A big event like this is rare in our small, overlooked town, so everyone was excited. Thinking of our nanny, who not only helps me take care of our newborn but also cooks for my older daughter in elementary school and my mom with a broken collarbone, I felt she deserved a treat. I figured, if others are getting tickets, my nanny must have them too! And they have to be the good ones! In previous years, when coworkers asked me for tickets, I’d just tally up the number and send it to Arthur. This year, I specifically emphasized that he must save two VIP tickets for me, even if we had to pay for them. So when Arthur said he gave the tickets to someone else, I immediately knew something was off. I wouldn't say I was angry, but I definitely felt uncomfortable. Concerts are loud, crowded, and chaotic. Would a pregnant woman really be comfortable there? If she's really worried about her health, she just shouldn't go. Why does she need VIP seats? Besides, I often told Arthur how hard the nanny works. Leaving our second child in her care means we should show her some appreciation. I racked my brain. Arthur usually just shuffles between his mom's house and his store. Plus, at our age, very few people are having a second child, let alone a third. I hadn't heard of any of his friends planning for one. I thought he was joking and asked teasingly: "All your friends just want to drink and party. Which one of them is pregnant? How come I didn't know?" Arthur, who was looking down at his phone, suddenly snapped his head up, glaring at me: "Chloe, what's your problem? Are you seriously jealous of a pregnant woman?" I was just asking a question; his extreme reaction was suspicious. Anyone with eyes could see this wasn't normal... "I'm just curious. Whose pregnant wife needs your special care? Where's her husband? Also, the nanny takes such good care of our baby, shouldn't we save two tickets for her?" "Furthermore, I told you about this in advance, and you agreed. Now you've gone back on your word. Did you even ask me before giving them to someone else?" Arthur's eyes darted away slightly, but he still spoke with self-righteousness: "It's just a multi-artist concert with a bunch of D-list singers. What does it matter where you sit? With Mrs. Lee's age, can she even understand what she's watching?" I didn't back down: "Yeah, it's just a multi-artist concert, what does it matter where you sit? So why can the pregnant woman go, but the nanny can't? Arthur, I never realized you were so good at playing favorites!" Arthur was so choked up by my words he looked ready to burst: "Chloe, you! You're being completely unreasonable!" 2 The tickets for the multi-artist concert, originally priced at two or three thousand dollars, were completely ignored by regular buyers and mostly ended up in the hands of scalpers. I got lucky and happened to see a post on Reddit from someone selling their tickets. I bought two VIP tickets for $299. When I handed the tickets to Mrs. Lee, she was thrilled and accepted them happily: "My daughter was just saying she wanted to go to the concert a couple of days ago. Now we have tickets! Thank you, Ms. Chloe!" Not wanting to waste the nosebleed tickets, I took my daughter, Lily, to the concert. Nosebleed seats are truly nosebleed seats—almost the farthest point from the stage in the whole arena. Usually, sitting high up means you can at least make do and see the stage. Unfortunately, our seats were right in the first row of the nosebleed section. A railing covered in banners directly blocked the view of everyone in the first row. I secretly rejoiced. Thank goodness I didn't give these tickets to Mrs. Lee; they were too embarrassing to hand over! People in the row in front of us kept walking back and forth. Lily got annoyed and restless. While I was trying to calm her down, Mrs. Lee sent a message: "Ms. Chloe, my daughter just told me she got floor tickets. Hurry and take Lily to sit in the VIP seats!" Hating to waste them, I took Lily on another "long trek," and we finally sat in the VIP section. Almost the instant we sat down, a familiar figure, with his arm around a woman wearing a low-cut coat, walked into my line of sight. Arthur held the woman tightly, carefully guiding her through the chaotic crowd. Occasionally, a child who couldn't sit still ran up and down the aisle and accidentally bumped into the woman. Arthur immediately flared up: "Where are your parents? The concert is about to start and you're still running around here! Didn't your teacher teach you to follow the rules?" The child was so startled they turned their head and almost cried. The woman wrapped in the coat frowned and shook Arthur's hand. It was too noisy; I couldn't hear what she said. I only saw Arthur look at her belly affectionately, pull a small packet of tissues from his pocket, spread them on the seat, and smile as he helped her sit down. The scene was so glaring that my vision quickly blurred as tears welled up. The husband who used "being busy at the store" as an excuse every day to comfortably leave both kids for me to take care of was now accompanying another woman to a concert. I can't describe the feeling in my heart; I just hoped Lily wouldn't see it. But of course, what I feared most happened. Lily innocently pointed ahead and yelled in my ear: "Hey! Mommy, look! Isn't that Daddy? Why does he have his arm around that auntie's waist?!" Lily's pure voice struck me like thunder. For a moment, I didn't know how to answer. If a first-grader knows boundaries between men and women, how could Arthur not know? "Daddy's so shameless! Teacher said boys and girls should keep their distance. Daddy already has Mommy, but he's holding someone else's hand!" The lights flashed. Lily held my hand, her eyes bright: "Mommy, why don't you divorce Daddy? If Daddy doesn't love you, Lily will love you!" My forcibly maintained defenses completely collapsed. I pulled Lily into my arms, unable to stop shaking. 3 Actually, Arthur's changes didn't start just a couple of days ago. I work in the city center. When I was pregnant with our second child, I commuted back and forth alone on the bus every day. Even in my third trimester, Arthur never once offered to drive me to work. To spend more time with the baby after birth, I gritted my teeth and pushed through, working until the very last moment before taking maternity leave. During my final checkup before giving birth, the baby's heart rate was consistently too high. I was panicked and anxious, so I called Arthur. I had hoped to get some comfort from the baby's father, but he dismissively said: "Doctors just like to scare people. You're so healthy, how could anything be wrong with the baby?" I asked him to drive over and stay with me that night. He let out a heavy sigh: "Chloe, I'm very busy. You can't demand both my money and my time." So from that point on, no matter how big or small the matter, I stopped going to him. I had intended to take Lily home first, but her small face was filled with anger, threatening to take revenge right then and there. I touched her little cheek. Since my daughter supported me so much, what did I have to worry about? Halfway through the concert, many VIP seats were still empty. I took Lily and quietly moved to the seats directly behind Arthur and that woman. Arthur was running around, looking exactly like a fawning lapdog. The woman pulled her coat tighter, and Arthur immediately asked: "What's wrong? Are you cold? I told you to wear more when we left, but you wouldn't listen. Now you know it's cold, huh? Good thing I brought a blanket for you!" There was a hint of mild reproach in his tone, sounding just like a married couple flirting. As he spoke, Arthur pulled a bag from under his seat, took out a blanket, and draped it over her. The woman didn't say anything. Arthur then pulled out a thermos from under the seat, opened it, took a sip himself, and then held it to her lips: "The temperature is just right. It's cold, hurry and drink a few more sips!" The woman leaned her head back and drank from his hand. Under the stage's blue lights, the thermos in Arthur's hand was clearly visible to me. Isn't that my thermos??? It even has the StellaLou sticker Lily put on it for me. I was wondering why I couldn't find my thermos when I left the house. Turns out this bastard took it for someone else to use. How disgusting! The woman took one sip and stopped: "I don't want hot water. I want a Sprite!" "You're a grown adult, why are you acting like a child!" Arthur scolded her verbally, but his body was already standing up, ready to go: "Since you passed your prenatal checkup today, I'll buy you a Sprite as a reward!" Arthur returned shortly. Again, he took a sip himself first before holding the spot he drank from to the woman's lips. He affectionately rubbed her head: "How's that? Feel better after drinking this?" A pair of small hands gently patted Arthur's shoulder: "Daddy, I don't feel good either. Can you buy me a Sprite too?" The hand Arthur was holding the Sprite with trembled. "Ah—" Accompanied by a piercing scream, the Sprite spilled all over the woman's coat, and many ice cubes slid down her low neckline. "Cold! So cold! I'm freezing to death!" The woman jumped up on the spot from the freezing ice, stomping her feet. Now, I finally saw her face clearly. Mia, the owner of the clothing store next to Arthur's shop. I remember, she has a husband... 4 Arthur didn't even keep his eyes on his daughter for a second before his attention was drawn away by the other woman. The VIP section already had fewer people, and with the loud commotion, many people's eyes were drawn to us. Arthur spun around anxiously. In front of everyone, he actually reached his hand straight down Mia's collar, then knelt on the ground, lifted her skirt, and shook it. A few ice cubes fell from under Mia's skirt onto the floor. Arthur was full of concern: "How is it? Are there any more?" Saying that, he pulled Mia's collar open, ready to reach in again. Mia blushed and shoved Arthur away: "Are you crazy?!" She wrapped her coat tightly around herself, naturally took the thermos, and chugged some hot water. Arthur was at a loss after being scolded. He finally realized that my daughter and I were still sitting in the row behind him. "You... Why aren't you at home taking care of the baby? What are you doing here? "And you brought Lily too. The concert is so chaotic, what if she gets lost?" I slapped him across the face: "If I didn't come, how would I have run into you two adulterers? No matter how chaotic the concert is, can it be as chaotic as your relationship?" The audience around us, who were originally holding up their phones to film the stage, turned their cameras towards us. Mia's face flushed red with embarrassment as she shouted back: "What nonsense are you talking about? Arthur and I are completely innocent. We're just ordinary friends! Nobody ever said it's illegal to go to a concert with a friend! Besides, I have a husband too!" Arthur looked at Mia with disbelief, muttering: "Ordinary friends..." I raised an eyebrow and demanded: "Ordinary friends? What kind of ordinary friends dote on each other and reach into a woman's collar in public without her objecting?" "You... Arthur was just anxious in the moment and didn't think straight!" "Didn't think straight? Even my six-year-old daughter knows boundaries. Your subconscious reaction as 'ordinary friends' is to grope each other? Since when can ordinary friends do that?" "You... I can't be bothered to argue with a shrew like you!" Mia was in the wrong and couldn't win an argument against me. She trembled with anger, her chest heaving, and gritted her teeth as she enunciated every word to Arthur: "Arthur, control your wife. From today on, we have nothing to do with each other!" With that, she bumped past Arthur, trying to get to the aisle. Arthur's outstretched hand hung in mid-air: "Mia, slow down, be careful of your baby!" The more I looked at his desperate, fawning behavior, the more disgusted I felt. "Wait! Don't leave just yet!" I yelled. Mia turned around, her eyes full of defiance: "What else do you want?" I pointed at the cup in her hand: "That thermos is mine. It even has my daughter's sticker on it. Give it back to me!" Mia looked at the cup in her hand, then looked at Arthur in disbelief. Then, she glared at me resentfully and threw the thermos at me. The cup was quite heavy. Seeing it flying straight at my face, I instinctively ducked. The cup smashed directly into Arthur's forehead. Mia tried to turn around but accidentally stepped on the ice cubes that had fallen on the floor earlier. With an "Ah—", she fell from the row she was standing in onto the seats in the row in front, landing flat on her face. Arthur grabbed his forehead and scrambled down to her in two steps, nervously hugging Mia. "Mia? Mia? How are you? Are you okay?" Mia clutched her stomach, her face twisted in pain: "My stomach... my stomach hurts so much..." The scene turned into a chaotic mess. The police providing security for the event arrived. Arthur sat on the floor holding Mia, yelling to call 911, as if the child Mia was carrying was his. When he saw the police, it was as if he'd seen his saviors. He eagerly pointed his finger at me: "Officers, it's her! She made Mia fall. Arrest her quickly!" I stared dead at the man in front of me, my heart turning to ice. 5 At the hospital, Mia had just come out of the emergency room and was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. Back at the arena, I first called Mrs. Lee to come and take Lily away before following them to the hospital. Arthur sat by the bed, looking entirely like a family member. He nervously touched Mia's head one moment, then used a cotton swab dipped in water to wet her lips the next. Two police officers, a man and a woman, entered. The female officer looked around: "What exactly happened? Who wants to explain?" "It's her! Officers, it's all because of her that Mia fell!" Arthur stood up agitatedly once again to falsely accuse me. The female officer turned to look at me: "Is it what he says? What is your relationship?" I laughed self-deprecatingly: "This man is my legal husband, and the woman lying in bed is his mistress." Hearing this, Mia, who had been pretending to be asleep, immediately bolted upright from the bed: "Who's a mistress? Don't you slander me!" Arthur also defended her: "How can you just make things up? Is that how you slander people? Mia would never be a mistress!" I completely ignored them, treating them like two barking dogs, and played the video I recorded on my phone: "Officers, please take a look. When it happened, I was far away from Mia. She threw the thermos to attack me, threw it too hard, lost her balance, and fell. If she could make herself fall like that, imagine how much it would hurt if that thermos had hit me!" The female officer looked shocked, clearly not understanding this mess of a situation either. The male officer pulled out his phone: "We checked the security footage of the area. It shows the two women were indeed at a distance and had no direct physical contact, so there is no suspicion of intentional assault." Arthur was relentless: "If she hadn't shown up, would Mia have fallen? You must hold her responsible!" That left me speechless. So, I shouldn't have been at the arena at all? My own husband wanted to stick a false charge on me for an outsider. Seeing him being so unreasonable, the police also wanted to close the case quickly. But Arthur refused to let it go, grabbing onto them, insisting on putting me in jail. I cleared my throat: "How about this! Since the law can't handle this, let's look at it from a moral standpoint. Since many people in the audience and I took videos, why don't I post them online and let the internet judge? It'll also give your customers a good look at what kind of people you really are!" Mia immediately panicked, half-propping herself up and digging her nails into Arthur's arm: "Arthur, do you want to ruin me? If that video gets posted online, how will I ever have the face to live?" Oh, so she knows what she did was wrong. With Arthur, her loyal lapdog, charging ahead to take the bullets for her, she could naturally accept all this with peace of mind. People like her never give up until they hit a dead end. Arthur grabbed her hand affectionately: "Mia, it's okay, let her post it! We have nothing to hide!" If I were Mia, I definitely would have rolled my eyes on the spot. But she had different tactics. She cried beautifully, looking fragile and pitiful: "Arthur, do you want to see me die?" With Mia threatening her life, Arthur finally backed down. The two police officers looked relieved and left the hospital room feeling much lighter. Arthur had just lowered Mia's bed when a bald man covered in tattoos walked in. Seeing him, Mia jumped out of bed barefoot and threw herself at him: "Hubby, boohoo, we almost lost our baby!" Arthur was anxious: "Mia, your shoes..." The bald man displayed immense husbandly strength, lifting Mia princess-style on the spot and tucking her back into bed: "Wifey, what happened? What's going on? Is our baby okay?" He looked at me, then at Arthur: "And who are these two?" Mia averted her gaze: "This is the owner of the liquor store next door and his wife. Thanks to them, I got to the hospital in time." The bald man patted Arthur's arm and exchanged some pleasantries, then turned his attention to caring for his wife. I left the hospital room first. Seeing he was no longer needed, Arthur awkwardly followed suit.
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